In the in-between
by A Lonely Planet
Summary: Clarke had been on that couch for seventeen days. She hadn't showered in two. And her laptop was on all the time. When she wasn't staring at the ceiling, she was applying for jobs. In the in-between, she played old video games.
1. Chapter 1

**In the in-between**

 **Prologue:**

Clarke had been on that couch for seventeen days. She hadn't showered in two. And her laptop was on all the time. When she wasn't staring at the ceiling, she was applying for jobs. In the in-between, she played old video games.

The Game Boy Advance. Emulated on that laptop. That was probably illegal, but she really wanted to play...and her old console...lived in her old bedroom.

In Kansas. With her mum.

She'd lost her job. It was eating her alive. She'd forgotten what the sun looked like. Darkness. It surrounded her 'room'. It was really the living room. But she hadn't seen her bed in so long, it wasn't like she missed it.

She didn't even know what time it was, so when someone knocked at her door. She grunted rather pathetically, before getting up.

Her neck was stiff, she walked at an odd angle, and her bones creaked. Just like an old draw that needed oiling.

She opened the door, only to find Raven staring her down.

Clarke felt herself caught between shock...and embarrassment. She wanted to close it right then, but instead, opened the door just that bit wider.

Raven's look told her everything. The flare of her nose at her stink, her prying gaze on the slow, but obvious clutter her apartment had become.

Stacks of books on the table. That thin layer of dust that clung to everything. The dishes, though clean, had piled up in odd places.

The place was a mess, and Clarke really didn't want to have to deal with it...or Raven.

Crack version of my story by Eddie Lawrence:

Seventeen days, Clarke spent applying for jobs, with boundless hours to her, she'd play old games. She didn't care which way as long as she had something to do. Within the 408 hours she'd been unmoving, skipping showers, detesting her mother's shit. She was far from home. So far, she was unemployed and gained 50 kilograms, she quit her job at burger king, only to come back to buy their food. Seeing her old work mates, she'd sigh and buy her burgers and fries. Playing the Game boy port of "Final Fantasy X" unable to kill Sephiroth. She'd cry at the fact the graphic were not 3d, since she was playing a hacked rom from China. She had a poster of Donald Trump hanging above her, as she ate her fries to the Chinese bootleg, she weeped thinking of when she was super skinny, and sexy, she missed being sexy, she threw her laptop out the window, took out a bag of weed and smoked, until she found the gun under her bed, while high she shot herself and then dated Jesus in the afterlife.

 **A/N:**

 **It's been awhile since I've written, so I hope you guy's like it!**

 **I also hope you like what my friend wrote :p**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1:**

Raven couldn't believe her eyes. To say Clarke looked...or stank like shit would've been an understatement.

She was still in her pyjamas for fuck sakes...at midday.

Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair unwashed, and for some reason, eyeliner was smeared on her cheeks. It was almost childish in nature, a comedy of how an adult shouldn't be.

Raven was still standing in the doorway, even when it revealed more of the mess. She couldn't bring herself to walk in. So she grabbed Clarke by the hand, and dragged.

Clarke's eyes widened at the invasion, but followed suit. She was in no mood to decline the company, despite not wanting to see the woman.

"Clarke, you're coming to my place."

It wasn't really choice. Raven's voice was demanding, serious, and in no mood for negotiation. Clarke held her tongue, and grabbed door handle.

"Let me lock it first."

It became a bit of a staring match between the two, before Raven relented. She didn't want the other girl to get away, back in that hovel of a home. But she waited in the hallway, itching to leave.

Clarke took twenty minutes. In that time, she showered, brushed her teeth, grabbed an old pair of jeans and a grey shirt. It was spring, so she put on a baseball cap. Quickly she grabbed her backpack, before locking the door. She looked a lot better, but she wasn't smiling. Her hair looked lifeless, despite the wash. Her once brilliant, blonde, mane reduced to trampled wheat.

Her blue eyes had lost their sheen, and they almost seemed dull.

Raven was calmer, but still frustrated. "You look better."

The other girl shrugged. "I look presentable."

Raven took her hand, and led her down the stairs. In the car park they found a ride straight from the 1970s. A Chevrolet Chevelle. Raven's car. It was red, it was hunky, and Clarke couldn't help a small smile when she saw it.

The car horn beeped. It was Octavia, reaching over from the back seat.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Lay off the car O. It's my only toy."

That wasn't true, Raven also had a small, but growing comic collection; as well as a draw full of console games under the TV. But neither girl said anything.

Octavia just smirked. "Whatever you say, next time don't take so fucking long."

"Don't blame me, blame the princess here." She jutted her thumb in Clarke's direction.

Clarke sighed, tugging at her backpack. "I needed a shower."

"Yeah O, it was horrible, I felt like I'd stumbled on Frankenstein's monster dwelling." To most people that's have been an exaggeration, it's wasn't to Raven.

Octavia leaned back into her seat, boots laying on the headrest. "I'm sure it was just slightly gross. You hate it when I eat cereal with a fork."

Clarke opened the door to the car. "Who eats cereal with a fork O?"

"Don't you start too Clarke, I like to drink the milk at the end. It's so much tastier." To Octavia it was an incredibly normal thing to do.

Clarke sat at the front. "Sure it is. What are we doing anyway?"

Raven couldn't help her smug look as she got behind the wheel. "Kidnapping you obviously."

That was the end of that discussion. It was a sunny day. Octavia's window was down, hair whipping in the wind. She grinned, with her shades on just so. In her ripped jeans and wife-beater. Everything in black.

Raven wore blue jeans, and a dark red shirt. Her hair back in a ponytail.

Octavia sighed, looking in the blonde's direction. "What've you been up to Clarke? You haven't returned anyone's call's, no one's seen you in two weeks. I mean, what the hell were you thinking?"

Clarke exhaled, it wasn't entirely true, she texted her mum...and her friends once. But she got it, that obviously wasn't enough. "It just happened."

Raven made a left turn, eyes fixed on the road, sarcasm dripping in her voice. "That doesn't 'just happen'. I called you ten times."

Clarke turned to the window, feeling just that much heavier. "Yeah, and I wanted to be left alone. I'm really not in the mood, okay."

Octavia leaned forward, resting a hand on Clarke's shoulder. "You know she didn't mean it like that, but we were worried. I mean, so you lost your job, it isn't the end of the world. You know you can always move in with us."

Clarke leaned her head onto the glass, reaching back to hold her hand. "I know, it just sucks. I mean, I hated it there, but it was my first 'real job'. I was going to be an architect, and I was for eight months.

"Then they had to merge with another company, and two-hundred jobs were lost. I hated the letter. 'We're sorry to inform you', and all that crap. Yeah, well, I'm sorry too."

Raven softened, her lips slipping from their hard line. "You know there are other jobs right? It isn't the end of the road, we'll figure something out."

Clarke couldn't help but laugh. "'Road'? As in, we're on a road. God, lame."

Raven smiled sheepishly. "That was an accident."

Octavia laughed right from the belly. "Sure it was, and I'm a duck."

Raven glanced at O from the mirror. "You better be careful, or that laugh will turn into a quack soon."

Clarke couldn't help the smile that cracked on her face. "That isn't how that work's Raven."

Raven shrugged, "So you say, but I don't know, O is beginning to change already."

Octavia leaned back into her seat, shaking her head, "Raven, don't let your imagination run too wild."

It wasn't long before they reached Raven's apartment.

Clarke opened her door, pulling her backpack on. "So, what's the deal with this 'kidnapping'?"

Raven laughed, as they got to the front door. "First, you're staying with us for a whole week."

"Then," Octavia added, "the fun begins. We're playing video games, listening to Vinyl and watching romantic movies."

They began heading up the stairs, before Clarke gave the girl's a quizzical look. "What about take-out?"

Raven put her arms around both Octavia and Clarke, a rather conspiratorial motion. "Well, that goes without saying."

They were laughing, and the front door was opened. When Clarke headed inside...all laugher was choked, stuck in her throat. Lexa, her ex-girlfriend, was sitting on the coach, watching TV.

She looked to other girl's, and she could see the guilt in their eyes. Clarke was immovable, like stone, stuck in that doorway.

Lexa cocked her head to the side, smiling. "Hey Clarke, it's been too long."

Well, just fuck everything.

 **A/N: Please review! Hope you liked it!**


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